“Ah, please have a seat. It’s a bit shabby here.”
Kora said as she laid the prisoner on the poorly maintained bed.
There was a chair in front of a table scattered with slightly spoiled food.
Dust had gathered.
Outside the window, Beastmen clung together, still unable to shake off their doubts. When I looked at them, their heads disappeared at a rapid pace.
“……”
The ears that poked up were still there, though.
[Hahaha]
[The kids are cute]
[Definitely seems like the priest is the culprit]
[Lol]
[Where did Yena go?]
“Could I ask you a bit more about the illness?”
“…Before that, can I ask just one thing?”
Kora asked with a trembling voice.
She must be quite scared to dare ask a question.
Right now, I’m an intruder and a lawbreaker who looks like I just took down the village’s important man.
I smiled.
“If it’s something I can answer.”
“……Are you from the neighboring village?”
“No.”
This village and the neighboring one.
I can’t tell if there are more villages in the forest, but judging by the cutscene and the suspicion toward only the neighboring village, there probably are only two villages.
From the perspective of these Beastmen, the neighboring village is more suspicious than someone they’ve been living with.
Kora nodded slightly in silence.
She doesn’t fully trust me, but her vigilance has somewhat eased.
[Let’s just kill them]
[Kora looks pretty like this, huh?]
[“Possible”]
[The neighboring village must’ve done something wrong]
[Agreed]
[Ah, lol, Beastmen are definitely the best]
[?]
[Why are there so many animal-ears here, haha]
“You all have quite diverse tastes.”
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind.”
There were quite a few people who liked Beastmen in the past.
After all, Beastmen are a combination of animals and humans.
However, it’s a bit hard to see Beastmen as having been born from a close relationship with animals in the first place.
It makes more sense to say that such a race suddenly appeared.
Not natural evolution, but rather, poof, one day they just showed up.
Initially, even Celestial and Demon Races are said to have been born from the primordial light and darkness, with no basis in myth.
“You were asking about the illness, right? The illness started about four months ago. It was exactly ten days after I heard from Bluering.”
One day, the Beastmen collapsed.
There was no warning, no reason for the illness.
The Beastmen had trouble breathing or became weak, and those adept in mana lost most of their mana.
Beastmen basically have great vitality and regeneration, which somewhat alleviated the disease, but it was just a matter of time.
When over thirty percent of the Beastmen fell ill, the suspicion that was already thick turned into distrust.
From that point on, they started to investigate even more fervently to find the culprit.
“…But we couldn’t find the culprit. After searching every house in our village and the neighboring village, there was nothing to show for it.”
“Did you visit the Priest?”
“I went the day after the disease broke out. At that time, he wasn’t in seclusion, so I was able to meet him, but…”
‘This disease was caused by someone attacking Bluering. Everything we live in is a part of Bluering. If there’s a problem with Bluering, we can’t escape unscathed.’
If you want to cure the disease, find the culprit.
“He said that. And then he went into seclusion, saying he wouldn’t trust anyone.”
“……Priest.”
[Hmm…]
[Isn’t it obvious that the Priest is the culprit?]
[For real, lol]
[In typical movie scenarios, the one in that kind of high position is usually the culprit.]
[Let’s go kill the Priest.]
[Hahahaha]
[What if it turns out the Priest was actually working super hard to find the culprit?]
[Just get rid of everyone to eliminate the disease, right?]
[Agreed]
[If you can’t kill the germs, just kill the host, lol.]
“He looks fine most of the time.”
“Ah. Beastmen have high regeneration, so if they use their beastly powers, they can manage day-to-day life. The only problem is that their thinking gets a bit simplistic…”
Better than dying, right?
Hahaha. Kora chuckled bitterly.
Now that I think about it, their behavior was closer to that of beasts than humans.
Not all of them, but some were like that.
“Where is the Priest?”
■
“…What the hell.”
Yena opened her eyes.
While soaring through the sky during an emergency, she was suddenly pulled away by some force.
And fainted.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself alone in a desolate place.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a state anomaly this serious.’
[Yena woke up?]
[Oh]
[She opened her eyes]
[Lolololol]
[Lily is currently beating up some Beastmen, wtf]
[Hurry up and wake up]
[Why is CC so long?]
[Yena! Get up!]
[Yena… Yena! Wake up! Get up!]
[Lololololololol]
“Where is this place again? Where did Lady Lily go?”
Ugh… As Yena raised her body, she surveyed her surroundings.
The shape was covered by green leaves.
In a space that somewhat resembled a cave, Yena pulled a bead from the space.
The bright fire bead illuminated her surroundings as it circled around her.
It happened.
[Yena abandoned the land…]
[I couldn’t stop laughing at how coolly he tossed it away, lol]
[Currently dealing with the Beastmen]
“Lady Lily abandoned me?”
[Yeah, yeah]
[LOL]
“Totally an idiot, for real.”
The fact that Lady Lily abandoned me is shocking, but it wasn’t entirely hard to understand.
Lady Lily is someone who seems to care deeply for people and wants to repay them, yet she draws a clear line when it’s time to be cold.
Honestly, that aspect may be the biggest reason why Lady Lily is so popular.
Yena observed the leaves glimmering in the light.
Each one had unique and intricate patterns carved into them.
Artificial patterns that couldn’t possibly have occurred naturally…
“What is this…”
It looks like a Magic Circle.
“It’s one of Bluering’s components.”
“…!”
A deep, resonating voice made Yena quickly draw her two daggers and turn around to assume a combat stance.
She had definitely become faster at preparing, perhaps due to her mastery of mana.
At the end of that voice stood a middle-aged Bear Beastman.
He radiated a considerable amount of magical power.
“What’s going on? Who are you?”
[LOLOLOLOLOLOL]
[What a sudden appearance]
“Oh crap, that startled me.”
[Is that the Priest?]
“Let’s kill him.”
[Why’d you come in with no signal, seriously?]
[Can’t we just kill him? Wait, no.]
[This feels like a horror movie.]
As Yena stared with wide eyes, the Bear Beastman bowed his head.
“I apologize for startling you. I’m a humble creature who bears Bluering’s message. The Beastmen call me ‘Priest.’”
“Oh, so you’re the Priest over there?”
“That’s correct.”
[That’s right.]
[Let’s kill him.]
[No, Lily needs to eat!]
[For real, lol.]
[Lily’s the target!]
[Wait, this is Yena’s broadcast, you crazy idiots, lol.]
“I must apologize for having to summon you here. I had a request specifically for you, an outsider…”
“What about Lady Lily? Why just me?”
“If it’s about the woman beside you… she is below you.”
I only need one person.
The Priest said as he spread his hands.
Suddenly, the area around Yena became illuminated, revealing what darkness had been hiding.
Giant leaves shaped like a blue wave.
The grandeur akin to massive tree roots sent chills down Yena’s spine.
‘This guy is stronger than I expected.’
I thought he might be at least an 80-level field boss, but it seems he exceeds that.
Perhaps he could even be compared to a Low-class World Boss.
Yena abandoned the thought of catching an unforeseen guardian.
A World Boss-level creature would require at least a guild ‘alliance’ to contend with it.
At least an alliance with the guild ‘Alliance’ is necessary to stand a chance.
Last year, the griffin they caught was hunted down with the cooperation of 12 guilds ranked in the top 30, four countries excluding the Empire, and 27 small organizations.
The ‘Griffin’s Shield’ they received at that time was taken by the Guild Master of the ‘Guardian’ guild, who had the highest contribution value.
“That’s just ridiculous…”
Yena, who couldn’t participate due to various circumstances at the dungeon back then, clicked her tongue in frustration.
[Yena’s territory is indeed quite strong]
[Ignoring Lily?]
[Is the Priest crossing the line…?]
[Stat-wise, Yena is higher, that’s true]
[Oh haha, are you ignoring Lily?]
[Hahahahahaha]
[If we do it without balancing, Lily will lose]
[Yena’s specs are insane, honestly, Lily can’t win against that]
[If Lily hadn’t done her third advancement, she’d be in trouble]
[Yeah, right.]
“Lily is strong. Is she stronger than me?”
“You’re free to have delusions, but it’s true that you are stronger.”
“No way, that’s not true.”
Yena adamantly denied it, but the Priest shook his head firmly.
A small fragment popped out from the Priest’s hand.
A fragment glowing even bluer than a mana stone.
“Do you know what this is?”
“A fragment of a mana stone?”
“No. This is a part of Bluering. It has lost its light due to evil beings, but if we deal with them, the light will return.”
“It’s lost its light?”
But it’s shining like that?
“That’s just the color of the fragment. The true light has already vanished and can’t be recovered.”
“…Hmm. So are you asking me to find it?”
“No. The culprit is being tracked with my abilities, and once we catch them, the light will inevitably return. What I want to ask of you is different.”
Ding!
[Blen, the ancient priest of Bluering, offers you a proposition.]
[If you successfully complete this proposition, you will receive immediate rewards regardless of the dungeon’s progress.]
[You will receive a ‘Mythic’ level item as the first clear reward.]
‘…What?’
“Currently, a part of the village has been afflicted by an evil disease. The disease eats away at the bodies of the Beastmen, but the bigger problem is that just their existence affects Bluering and others as well.”
Gulp.
“I have no way to do anything about them. So before this disease spreads further…
Please bring them peace.”
[Will you accept?]
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